Librarians Take The Copyright Battleground In Developing Countries 26/11/2008 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments By William New CHISINAU, MOLDOVA – Creativity may not be the first thing that comes to mind when travelling through the kilometres of mostly grey, Soviet-era cement-block buildings outlying the capital of Moldova, often referred to as Europe’s poorest state. But at its centre, this small, transition economy is going through an exercise being repeated […]
Questions Raised About Google Library Project’s Impact On Knowledge Access 26/11/2008 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New What has been heralded as a breakthrough in the digitisation of human knowledge is also raising questions about how most humans will access that knowledge, according to an expert in copyright and the public interest. Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, recently raised concerns about Google’s new […]
Brand Owners Urge Caution On New Top-Level Internet Domain Names 26/11/2008 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Trademark owners are not likely to benefit from the approval by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) of a predicted 500 new generic top-level domain names (gTLDs), industry speakers said at a 25 November Web seminar on protecting and promoting brands online. Potential risks include the need for defensive domain-name registrations in many TLDs and the lack of an effective procedure for resolving disputes, they said.
Should The EU Rethink Copyright Law For The Digital Music Age? 25/11/2008 by David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Europe’s copyright rules are ill-suited to an age when millions of music files can be accessed at the click of a mouse, a Brussels conference has been told. About eight million tracks by musicians from a wide variety of genres can now be listened to via […]
Push For TRIPS Changes Reaches Highest Level At WTO As Meetings Intensify 21/11/2008 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Kaitlin Mara Proponents of amending the World Trade Organization intellectual property agreement to increase protection for biodiversity and for geographically-specific products are insisting Director General Pascal Lamy himself lead the process for resolving the issues. Meetings on intellectual property issues have been held periodically throughout the week, including Friday, and will continue next week, […]
IP In Biotechnology In Need Of A New Start, Experts Say 21/11/2008 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Catherine Saez PARIS – Biotechnology is in dire need of a change to its business model, restoring trust among all actors and building partnerships, according to participants in a recent seminar here. After nearly thirty years, the industry still is not making profits, the field seems to be running out of steam, and controversies over patents in the health and agriculture areas have influenced public opinion, they said.
EU Favours Disclosure Of Computer Patents Before Standards Are Set 20/11/2008 by David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Computer firms may be required to divulge details of patents they hold before technology standards are set, a senior European Commission official has said. More than a year after the European Court of Justice ruled that Microsoft was abusing its dominant position in order to prevent its products being compatible with programmes developed by rivals, Brussels policymakers are continuing to assess what implications the judgment has for intellectual property and antitrust law.
Ministers, Stakeholders Meet In Mali To Strategise On Health Research Systems 20/11/2008 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Kaitlin Mara Ministers of health, science and technology, and social development met this week with scientific researchers and representatives from foundations, the private sector and civil society to discuss the future of research for health on diseases disproportionately affecting the developing world. “Data matters, and the sharing of data matters,” Mark Walport, director of […]
L’AIPLA face aux défis majeurs des élections américaines et de l’économie internationale 20/11/2008 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Par Dugie Standeford pour Intellectual Property Watch LA HAGUE, PAYS-BAS – L’association américaine du droit de propriété intellectuelle (American Intellectual Property Law Association-AIPLA) va devoir relever des défis politiques, législatifs et administratifs de grande ampleur dans les prochains mois, comme l’a expliqué son nouveau directeur exécutif Q. Todd Dickinson le 13 novembre dernier lors d’un […]
Team Of Experts Form WHO Working Group On IP And Neglected Diseases 19/11/2008 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Kaitlin Mara The World Health Organization has released a long-awaited list of high-level experts tasked with finding innovative funding mechanisms for needed medical research on neglected diseases. The list largely contains governmental and intergovernmental representatives, and first reactions to it have been generally positive. The creation of this “results-oriented and time-limited” expert group was […]